Customer Reviews

Classic American Fiction: Altsheler's Young Trailers Series, all 8 novels in a single file (Samizdat Edition with Active Tables of Contents), improved 4/18/2011

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My father read these stories while a young man as I did as a teenager. I still remember my disappointment when I finished the last library book of the series and realized that there would be no more. About 20 years ago, I searched for the Altsheler books to read to my own three sons but to no avail and considered that they were no longer in print. A few months ago, with a new Kindle and some spare time, I put 'Henry Ware' (a main character in the stories) into Amazon's search engine. What a gift to find that a full set of these eight novels was still available. Still, in the intervening 50 years, it was to be understood that an adult's reading requirements would have matured past the fantasies of a teenager. This includes mostly historical fiction with most of Wilbur Smith's earlier novels, Bernard Cromwell's (sp?) novels with emphasis on the Sharpe series, the Hornblower classics and the Simon Scarrow novels to name just a few. So I brought the entire collection for the absurd cost of 99 cents to have available to read to my grandsons. With the intent of reading just a few pages to reacquaint myself with the characters, I am now on my second of the eight novels and will probably feel the same disappointment when the eighth is finished with no more to follow. These are great stories from an almost lost literary period where heroes where people you would emulate to an advantage. There quiet bravery, humor, and wild adventure set in the vastness of the early American frontier wilderness. The character development is good with surprising depth. Altsheler's ability to describe with great literary talent the majesty of the wilderness before the coming of civilization is a cornerstone to the stories' appeal. The almost larger than life portrayal of the main character may be cause for some criticism but this is well balanced by the fears and struggles of a second youth. If you require 'real man' themes with drinking and sexual exploits defining the heroes, forget these stories. But if you would be entertained by an older view of the heroic coupled by fun adventure, these are great novels.

I happened across the name Joseph Altsheler recently and it triggered an entire world of wonderful memories for me when I was a teenager (now in my 60s). My fellow reviewer's piece is exactly on target. Five stars seems hardly enough. This is the best fiction I have ever encountered for any readers (especially young ones) who crave intense adventure with a moral foundation. There is no preaching or religiosity in Altsheler, simply an acknowledgement that right is right and is worth defending.

I've read the entire Young Trailer series 8 or 10 times; it never fails to delight. If there is a young, naturally heroic man worth emulating more than Henry Ware I have yet to meet him.

We meet Henry early on, a teenager traveling with his parents into the "dark and bloody ground" of early Kentucky. There are natural dangers on all sides, foremost of which are the native Indians, who inspire in Henry a deep desire to live in the natural world and glory in its wonders.

There are enough villains to satisfy any Indiana Jones devotee, and a cast of complementary characters like Silent Tom and Shif'less Sol who add a richness and depth to what one's imagination pictures as real life on the American frontier.

If you like the novels of Mark Twain and the western classics of John Ford, you owe yourself an introduction to Joseph Altsheler. Because his books have been out of print for so long, an entire generation has missed out on him. But now the technology of Kindle brings him back, and I can't wait to read him one more time.